SYWBL: The OneShots
by MelissaRose85
Summary: After everything was said and done, there was still a life to be lived. One-shots following Someday You Will be Loved. SasuSaku, AU, Complete.
1. Dreams

A/N: I did have some one-shots for the SYWBL universe planned out, and I had toyed with ever releasing them. I had finished the story, at least. But there were loose ends (where did Jin go? How is their relationship?) that I had always imagined tying up. I'm not sure if I'll make it through all the plot bunnies in my head, but I'm going to at least do some of them.

This is, as I said, set in the SYWBL universe. I'm sure they can be understood without having read it, but some of the characters, past events, and dialogue in this story will not make sense without having read it.

* * *

"SYWBL: Dreams"

* * *

"_You truly are…Kazedama. Only we…can be…this cruel." He stopped, coughing and choking as the blood in his throat bubbled up. "Only we…kill our own family."_

_She looked at him, the horror in her mind not showing on her face._

_His eyes met hers, scorn, acceptance, even pride showing in his eyes._

"_The blood is strong in you. You can…try to be Haruno. __Try__." He laughed, wet and sick noises coming from his torn chest as he mocked her, even now._

"_I don't have to try. I __am __Haruno."_

_He grinned._

"_No. You are…mine. __Me__. Kazedama."_

_The image in her mind, of a young woman with brown hair, slowly morphed. Pink began to show through, deepening to a blood red. She could see a calculated coldness enter green eyes, hardness tensing muscles through the slim body. _

_Someone was coming. She could feel them. _

_She turned, her blade striking out quickly and flashing in the sunlight. Blood flew through the air to splatter against the broken furniture in the now-destroyed living room of a once grand mansion, and the woman grinned._

_The feel of satisfying the bloodlust was ecstasy, and she enjoyed the tingling thrill that swept through her bones. This was what he meant, she realized, this acceptance that she could do anything, be anything, as long as it was what she wanted. _

_Her aunt's hair flew in an arc as she fell backward, the look on her face torturous—_

Sakura set up quickly in bed, the numerous blankets warding off the winter chill in the air flying down around her waist. She could feel her chest heaving, the cold air burning her lungs as she began to hyperventilate.

The room was dark, the only light coming through the small crack in the curtains. She could see the dresser, a chair, and shadows in the corner. She needed light, it was always the one thing that helped bring her back to reality, but the light was far away, across the room, and she didn't know the lay of the land here like she should.

A hand landed on her arm, and she shrieked, jerking to the side and almost falling off the tall western-style bed.

"Sakura?" Sasuke mumbled, still half asleep but alert.

She closed her eyes, concentrating on controlling the spasms of her diaphragm, slowly returning the rate of her breathing to something close to normal. She felt the bed shift under her as he leaned over toward the small table by his bed, and suddenly she could see a halo of red flaring light from behind her eyelids.

She opened her eyes, turning to look at him, now in the soft light of the small bedside lamp. He was obviously tired—they had come back from a long mission just the day before. His eyes were red and slitted, almost closed in his attempt to stare her down.

"It was nothing, Sasuke," she sighed, moving to lie back down and rearranging the blankets around herself.

"Uh-huh."

He left the lamp on, something which caused her to shut her eyes in embarrassment, but she was grateful at the same time. She could still feel the adrenaline coursing through her body, the resistance as her blade cut through flesh—

He pulled her to him, closely, snugly wrapping her in blankets and his body. She scooted backward and sidled up against his warmth, and she felt an arm go over her stomach.

"You'll have to tell me someday. It's getting worse."

_I know_, she thought. _I know._

But she didn't want to break the tenuous peace they had finally found in their lives by bringing up the past, and she was pretty sure he already had some idea of what was going on in her dreams.

It hadn't been so bad, at first. The dreams didn't really begin until months after she had left Niigata, and the first one she had considered a fluke, the result of too much stress with her near-death experience. But they had become a constant presence in her life soon after; at least two nights a week her sleep was disturbed by night terrors that caused her to wake up hyperventilating, screaming, even once fighting with her blankets as if her uncle was once again holding her down.

She had been able to keep it from everyone for months, but as soon as her relationship with Sasuke had moved into the 'staying the night' phase, not three months after their initial night together, she no longer could keep it hidden. Until that point the nights they were able to enjoy sleeping in the same bed were few and far between, with missions and her shifts at the hospital, and she was sufficiently able to hide them from him.

But one night…

It had been one of the worst, and it just happened to occur on a night when they were both able to actually be in the same house for longer than a few hours without something taking their attention away. He was spending the night at her apartment—much more normal than she staying at the Uchiha home he was in the middle of remodeling or the apartment he continued to keep—and she had woken up screaming, fighting, raging as the dream fought to keep her in its grip.

He had been shocked to see it, but had laid there with her and soothed her back to sleep, something she had never imagined of her stoic lover. The next morning was full of awkward conversation and finally, the unspoken resolution that he would leave it alone; she knew she was not the only one who woke up plagued by their past.

But she knew it had bothered him: she rarely slept alone after.

They had been coming more and more often lately, although she wasn't sure why. She would blame it on the stress of the mission, but it wasn't anything out of the norm, and there was no reason for it to bring up such a violent memory, especially superimposed with the fake memory of her aunt's death. Her aunt was well and alive, something she knew she would have to cement in her mind the next day with a surprise visit to her old family home.

She drifted of to sleep slowly, the images in her mind fading as his deep, even breathing and the warmth of his body worked its soothing magic on her, but the words and the voice of her dying uncle stuck in her subconscious.

"_You are…mine. Me."_

_

* * *

_

This is set maybe five or six months after the end of SYWBL._  
_


	2. Afternoon

A/N: I did have some one-shots for the SYWBL universe planned out, and I had toyed with ever releasing them. I finished the story, at least. But there were loose ends (where did Jin go? How is their relationship?) that I had always imagined tying up. I'm not sure if I'll make it through all the plot bunnies in my head, but I'm going to at least do some of them.

This is, as I said, set in the SYWBL universe. I'm sure they can be understood without having read it, but some of the characters, past events, and dialogue in this story will not make sense without having read it.

* * *

"SYWBL: Afternoon"

* * *

It had been a lazy day.

There were, for once, no meetings, no one dying in the hospital, no pressing missions, no training, not even a summons from a friend wanting to have a late lunch or a trip through the market. She almost felt guilty for being so lazy, but it was a rare day that she had nothing to do and she planned to enjoy the circumstance as long as she could.

She was dozing on Sasuke's horrible couch—not nearly as comfortable as hers—with her eyesight lingering on the final stack of boxes she knew she should get to sometime soon. She had offered to help him move back into this home, which looked nothing like it had when he was young, but she didn't really feel like doing anything at this point. It was too pretty a day to work.

In the distance she could hear the noise of the builders, the many crews that had been hired to help with the eventual demolishing of half of the Uchiha district. The entire west side was coming down, being sold to the city for land development. Sasuke figured he had no need for the land, and the small corner he was keeping would be plenty. The once-grand district, which had been turned into a sort of open mausoleum, was being pulled down and incorporated into the city, and only a measly 120 acres of the original thousands would end up belonging to her lover.

In a way, she thought he felt he was doing penance to the city for his family's actions, but she also realized he knew that if they ever did have a family, it would be years before they would need even the land he was keeping, and never again would the Uchiha clan be allowed to sequester themselves from Konoha.

She turned onto her back and stared at the blank ceiling above.

Things had been…strange, lately.

Sasuke had been pushing for her to finally get rid of her apartment, his argument that she was spending more time in this house than even he was, but she wasn't so sure.

His was already gone, the lease up over a month ago and now all of his possessions boxed up and transferred here. She had slowly been putting everything in its place, amazed that he trusted her with such a task, but determined to do it right.

He hadn't complained yet.

They had only been "together" a little over a year, but she knew what he wanted, what was playing on his mind. Moving in was the next natural step, she assumed, especially since she practically lived here already.

But marriage was only a hop and a skip away from that, and she wasn't sure she was ready for it yet.

Amazingly, it wasn't him. He had put his all into their relationship, and while he had only said he loved her that one night, she knew it to be true. She knew how he was, as well; she didn't expect to hear it often. He showed it in other ways.

But marriage was so…permanent.

And the ANBU argument would rear its ugly head again.

He had a point, she knew—if they ever wanted to have kids, and she did want kids, they wouldn't both be able to continue this grueling pace. Naruto had even been recruited into the damn thing, telling her would have no problems putting her directly under Tsunade at the hospital and allowing her to keep her ANBU status so she could pick up the spare mission here and there when she got antsy about staying in the village all the time.

_Just like he was, poor guy. He didn't realize he would be trapped behind that desk all the time._

But she had worked so hard to get here, once she finally came back to the village. She didn't want to give it up. Besides, children were at least a few years in the future, and there was plenty of time to make that decision.

It all boiled down to Sasuke's protectiveness. He hovered over her like she was a child, in much the same manner he had when they were young, although she hadn't realized it then. At least, not until he snapped that guy's arms in the Forest of Death during the chuunin exams. At that point, it had been right up in her face.

She was strong. She fought to become who she was—why should she give it up?

Her thoughts continued to drift, wandering around her stubborn lover and the future he was trying to build them, and she drifted off in the warmth of the summer sun.

The slide of the massive traditional doors facing the garden shutting woke her up a scant hour and a half later, and she swiveled her head toward the newly built sunroom's entry way into the living room, waiting.

She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as he came into view, and returned the small grin he sent her way.

"Well?"

He was silent as he approached, giving her a small shove at her hip and perching on the edge of the couch near her. His hands were resting between his knees, clasped together, and she thought she could see the tension in his frame fly away.

"Perfectly, of course."

Her grin bloomed into a full blown smile, and she sat up suddenly and flung her arms around his shoulders. She felt his biceps tighten—still so unused to her easy displays of affection—before he finally gave in and let her hug him. It was only a moment, though, before he gently pushed her back and settled into his usual stiff demeanor.

"They have agreed to let me hold the seat on the council, as they do need to fill some of the remaining empty seats. Although, it has been made clear the there are some reservations."

"I knew they would say yes, Sasuke, I just knew they would!" she shouted and then beamed, and fluttered her hand in the direction of the west part of the compound. "You are giving the city around 2800 acres of land at damn near free; they couldn't turn you down!"

His hand came up to scrub his face. "I didn't want to buy the seat, Sakura."

"You didn't. I'm sure they made that clear!"

"Hn," he grunted, with a sarcastic inflection that she was sure only she could actually pick up and understand.

"Well, either way, everything's coming together. Wait and see. In a few years, the land will be developed, people will be living there, and you'll be done with this." She patted his arm absently as she moved to get up; she had boxes to finally unpack instead of stare at. "It's all going well."

She had barely stood up when she felt his hand come up to circle her wrist, jerking her over between his legs and then down into his lap.

"Everything's coming together?"

His nose was nuzzling her neck, right below her ear, and she could feel the tension in the air shift and morph into playfulness.

"If all my plans are going so well," he said in a dark, mused voice, "then you must have finally decided that shoebox you call an apartment is going."

She stiffened a fraction for just a moment, but he picked up on it. He released her, but she didn't move, even as he let himself fall backward, his back resting against the uncomfortable fluffiness of his couch.

"This is getting ridiculous," he muttered.

"Why? Because I don't want to give up my apartment yet?"

He huffed. "You practically live here."

"I know," she said, a little petulantly. "So why does it matter that I've got the apartment still? I'm always here anyway. It's like we live together."

"But we don't. It really isn't the same."

She scooted back and off of his lap, scrunching herself into the corner of the couch between its back and arm. Her arms went across her chest, and she stared at the man leaning back on the couch, in an unusual position of languid carelessness. But it was deceiving; he was tense, she could see, and he has wincing, she could tell, even with his hand up covering his eyes.

"_Annoying_," he muttered.

"I wouldn't go there," she warned, glaring at him.

He huffed, and made to get up, most likely going to closet himself in some other room until his mood had gone away, but she stopped him.

"I really don't want to fight about this, Sasuke," she said, staring down at the dark blue fabric of the couch. "It's nothing to do with you; I just feel it's too soon."

He turned towards her, his movement somewhat less graceful than usual due to the lack of room to maneuver in between his horrid couch and the table.

"You asked _me_ if I was sure, remember? I am sure."

She looked up, her eyes meeting his, and she could read everything he was keeping hidden, even though she doubted he knew how open he was actually making himself. It was an unfortunate side effect of their relationship—well, unfortunate for him, anyways. It made this whole sharing and caring thing easier for _her_.

Her thoughts drifted again, back to the same train of thought she had before her nap—was he really asking that much of her? She was here all the time, and she did love the surly bastard. Maybe she was making this out to be bigger than it was; she could always fight the battle later, argue for a very long time of living together before marriage.

The room was silent for a long moment before she sighed, sagging on the couch in mock despair. A tiny smile played on her face, and she picked at a loose string on her shorts.

"Oh, all right, then. I'll give up the stupid apartment," she muttered, still smiling down.

She felt his surprise, even though she hadn't looked up at him.

"Hn."

He was ecstatic; she could tell.

* * *

This takes place somwhere around a year to 15 months after the end of SYWBL.


	3. House Party

A/N: Another small one-shot from after SYWBL.

Enjoy!

* * *

"SYWBL: House Party?"

* * *

"So where's the boy-toy, Sa-ku-ra?" Reno asked, his sly grin and teasing words one of the many ways he had been annoying her all day.

"Day Mission," she said curtly.

She moved to grab the next box, hopefully the last one in her apartment, and he swooped down beside her, grabbing in before her hands could even touch the cardboard.

"I got it, k?"

She nodded, unwilling to fight over it. She was tired, anyway.

Looking around, she almost felt sick. This had been her apartment for years, ever since her mother's death. Now, she was leaving and it felt too weird to see it hollow, only outlines of pictures left on the walls and imprints on the carpet.

She had originally asked Reno if he wanted the apartment, but he said no. He had his own, in the same building, and he seemed to prefer it. It was up to him either way, and she didn't push the issue.

Most likely, knowing Reno, he knew exactly why she wanted him to keep this particular apartment. He was forcing her to cut the umbilical cord quickly.

Jerk.

"Ya know, he should be helpin'," he said, juggling the box and the keys in his hands as he moved toward the door.

"Well," she said, grabbing the keys from him, "he has to work too. He can't just quit doing missions because I'm setting up house."

He sent her a sly grin after she spoke, and she wondered what she had said.

"Besides, I was doing missions while he was moving. Life goes on, ne?"

He just nodded.

They had soon exited the apartment and locked it up tight, a few boxes in each of their arms now, and headed toward the Uchiha residence they had recently gotten up and running. It looked like new—it was new, really. Little of the house was actually left over from the original.

As they passed people on the street both would nod and greet their friends, some the same and some different. Reno was in an interesting place in the village—not ninja and not civilian—so his group seemed to be very odd.

He had eventually taken a job down in the entertainment district of Konoha, once again working at a bar, but she knew he had been hanging around some of the ANBU way too much for it to be casual.

She eventually decided that, as always with Reno, she just didn't want to know.

It took them a good twenty minutes to walk to the house, but Reno could teleport and he couldn't run as fast as she could, especially holding all of these boxes.

Besides, it was a pretty day. Too pretty not to enjoy it.

"When are you guys finally done w'the place, eh?"

She looked around, and calculated a time frame in her head, taking into account everything they wanted to complete in the actual Uchiha District that would continue in Sasuke's family.

"Maybe a few more months? We have no say in the development of the city land, really, although they can only use it for certain things. But this area—Sasuke's land—just a few more."

He nodded, glancing around.

"It's nice, though. Kids'll love it, ya know," he said, winking at her.

She blushed, although she refused to let him think he had flustered her.

"You planning a family, Reno?"

He laughed, loudly.

"'Course not, Sakura! But I think you'll be soon."

She sent him a glare, which he just laughed at.

They soon arrived at the end of the new district, the back quarter of which was now taken up by Sasuke's new version of the Uchiha main house.

Reno goggled openly.

He's never been here before, she reminded herself.

"Damn," he whistled. "You cleaned up."

She moved to slap him until she realized she would drop the boxes and just settled for glaring.

"Shut up."

They made it into the house and set the boxes in the living room, which had become the unofficial storage space as they continued to move things in and out of the house at random.

Then, they flopped down onto Sasuke's horrible blue couch.

Reno fidgeted for a few minutes, eventually giving up and heaving a great sigh.

"The couch sucks."

She let her arm fall over her face, hiding her eyes.

"I know. But I've lost the argument so far."

He nodded, his head still swiveling to take in everything around him, even while he was relaxing.

"You know…"

"What?"

"There's a lot o' space in this sucker."

She moved her arm, barely lifting her head from the couch and gave him a look. It very clearly meant he should finish the thought before she beat it out of him.

"Party? Housewarming?"

She snorted.

"Why not?"

"Have you _met _Sasuke? Party, in Uchiha-ese, is synonymous with pain, anxiety, hatred, and loathing. They are not…social creatures. Sasuke takes that to new heights."

"Make 'im. Use your," he waggled his eyebrows, "feminine wiles."

She laughed, and slapped him on the arm.

"Shut up."

"C'mon," he said, like a dog with a bone once he had the idea. "It'll be _fuuuun_…"

"Screw you, Reno."

He sat up on the couch, crawling towards her slowly.

"You know you want to. Ain't been to a decent party since I got here."

"No, baka."

He crept closer, and she shifted further down the couch.

"C'mon," he whined.

"No, ahou!"

He finally made it right next to her, and in an instant, he had jumped. He grabbed her securely and shook her around in a great bear hug.

"Aw, Sakura, why not?" he whined, sounding impressively similar to a toddler.

"No!" she said, her arms coming up to try and loosen his grip. "And let me go!"

"But please? Please, please, pleasepleaseplease—"

"No!" she yelled, smacking at him ineffectually.

"Did I miss something?" a very dark, very irritated voice said from the doorway.

They both stopped, freezing, and turned toward the new person in the room.

"Sasuke!" she cried, breaking Reno's hold

Reno landed heavily against the couch, scowling.

"I just want a lil'—"

"No!" she said turning toward him again.

"What's going on here?"

Sasuke's voice was rough, and she could tell he was obviously upset about something. Any minute now, his eyes were going to turn red.

She turned toward him, only a foot or so in front of him.

"He wants a housewarming party. I said no."

"You ruin my fun!" Reno said dramatically, flailing about before flopping down onto the couch.

"I agree. No party."

He looked down at her and she saw the skin around his eyes crinkle. A smile in Sasuke-ese while other people were present.

The little feeling of joy bubbling up inside her was wrong, she knew, but she couldn't help it. Sasuke had been jealous. It was rare, and she was going to bask in the knowledge.

"Are those the last ones?" he asked, gesturing to the boxes they had left in the middle of the floor.

"Yep. I'm all moved out."

He gave her a smirk that made her knees weak.

"Good."

* * *

A/N: Short and sweet. Baka: stupid, idiot; Ahou: fool. Just in case.


	4. Bank Account

A/N: Yet another small one-shot in the SYWBL universe. Probably the last one, to be truthful. I find that this universe is over for me, something I don't feel like revisiting anymore. I'm not necessarily done with Naruto fanfiction, although I'm focusing on Bleach right now, I'm just not feeling it right now. Probably because I'm no longer enjoying the manga.

Enjoy! R & R if you liked it!

* * *

"SYWBL: Bank Account"

* * *

"This can't be right," she muttered, glancing from the paper statement in her hand to the ones lying organized by date in the box next to her. She was meticulous in not only her records but in her balance statements. She had to be; missions were never a sure thing so budgeting was important.

Even with Sasuke's money. She adamantly refused to just use his bank account like it was hers, although he had told her time and time again that she was welcome to it. It just felt, _wrong._

But this—this was unreal!

She jumped up from the desk chair in Sasuke's—well, their—home office and strode to the wall lined with bookcases and shelves, knowing exactly where he kept his own financial records.

Peering through the file box, she saw that everything was just as organized as her own, the most recent month's printout sitting right on top.

She glanced around the room in a paranoid fashion, as if someone might be watching her and see her looking through her boyfriend's finances, not that she wasn't allowed. He wouldn't say anything if he caught her himself; the paranoia was ridiculous.

She shook herself and concentrated on the table of figures.

Nope. Nothing.

He hadn't done it.

_Then where did it come from?_

Someone had deposited an obscene amount of money into her account, enough to pay for at least three S-rank missions. This was more than she made in a year working at the hospital!

There was no name, no identifying information to give her any clue of where the money had come from.

And if it wasn't Sasuke—it couldn't be her aunt. After they had all fled her mother's ancestral home, most of the things had been liquidated and confiscated by the local authorities, which really meant the local criminal organizations. Her aunt had gotten just enough to support her and the children for the next few years.

A sudden feeling of terror came over her, a chill sweeping up her spine. Memories were rushing to the surface of her mind, flooding her brain with thoughts she had long buried.

"_Kaa-san, where did you get that?"_

"_A piano! Really?"_

"_But I thought we couldn't afford the academy?"_

"_We get to go—what? How can we go shopping, kaa-san?"_

And one encounter she hoped to never remember…

_There was a man at her kitchen table. _

_She didn't know him, was sure he'd never been around before. But he was smiling at her, calling her his little Sakura-chan, and kaa-san was just standing there._

_He looked a little like kaa-san, even had her hair color._

"_Kaa-san?"_

"_Saku-chan, why don't you go up to your room?" her mother said, her voice wavering. _

_Her mother was scared. _

_She had never seen her mother scared. Her mother wasn't a ninja, but she was a fighter. She had been training her and Ino for years, helping them learn the ninja techniques they were taught at the academy. She had even been able to spar against her father, he had been a ninja, and she had beaten him before. So who was this man?_

"_I—okay, kaa-san," she said, before turning and hurrying up the stairs to her room. _

_The man wasn't forgotten, but he wasn't doing anything other than sitting there. Her mother may not like him, but she had let him in the house. That meant he couldn't be bad. Her mother would never let a bad man in the house, especially now daddy was gone. _

Sakura slumped down the wall, papers in her hand forgotten and falling to the floor.

This was how it happened before. Strange amounts of money showing up in her mother's bank account, gifts being delivered that neither had ordered. At first it had just seemed as if they had a benefactor, perhaps someone taking pity on the poor widow and her daughter. Later, her mother had told her she knew where the money was coming from, not to worry about it.

And she hadn't. She had been too young to realize that money didn't just appear from nowhere like that.

But this—this was impossible.

He was dead. She had killed him herself. She had watched the light leave his eyes as he left the world, had seen the fire that burned his body before they fled the scene. There was no way he lived through that.

There was, of course, a chance that Jin—that bastard traitor—had lived. She didn't know who all her team had killed when they were securing the residence. She had always assumed they had taken him out.

Besides, Jin wouldn't do this. This wasn't his style.

_Will it ever be over?_

She had asked herself that too many times. It seemed like her family's history continued to trail her, to haunt her every step. And this only proved she would never escape the fact that she was a Kazedama.

_You're mine. Me. _

No.

She shook her head again, this time clearing it of the voice of her dead uncle as he tried to warp her mind. There was only one thing left to do, and it didn't involve a trip down memory lane.

* * *

Konoha's bank wasn't busy in the early afternoon, thankfully.

The village had only one bank, which supported both the civilian population and the ninja population. It actually worked quite well for everyone, although there had been some uproar about monopolies once the country had allowed banks to begin forming "branches."

It wasn't normal, in Sakura's opinion.

She walked up to the large desk with about five civilian females standing behind, ready to help any customers. Two were already occupied but one, at the far end, was not and looked to be just a bit older than the others.

It was the matron that Sakura chose to approach.

"Good day. May I help you?"

"I hope so." Sakura sent her a smile as she unfolded the account paper in her hand and pressed it onto the counter in front of her. "You see, I've just received my monthly account balance, and there is something wrong here."

She pointed to the line that showed the very large transaction being deposited into her account.

"I see. Is the amount incorrect?"

"It's not so much that…as…" she fumbled for a way to explain it.

"Yes?"

"It shouldn't be there."

The lady gave her a quizzical look and copied down the account number to pull up her information on the computer—they always fascinated her even if she hadn't gotten to use them much due to the old-school methods of the ninja population.

"Well, it shows that it was supposed to go into your account, Haruno-san."

"But it shouldn't have," Sakura said, her consternation beginning to show.

"Hmm."

Sakura took a deep breath and ruffled her bangs in agitation.

"Who is it from? Does it say?"

"No, no…just an account number," the woman said as she squinted at something on the computer screen. She clicked with the small thing attached to it, and everything changed.

Her face went white, she stiffened, and her breathing pattern changed. The ninja in Sakura recognized the basic fear response and almost reciprocated but she fought to stay calm. The woman stared at Sakura in disbelief before glancing around quickly, leaning in, and speaking softly.

"You're a ninja, Haruno-san?"

"Yes," she said, puzzled.

"You should be very careful about this! If the council found out—I won't report it, I'm not allowed to, but still, take my advice and leave them alone."

"Who?" she said, confused and puzzled and almost furious with the fact that she couldn't get a straight answer.

"That account number. It's from Cloud, actually. Their B.B. account, as we call it, otherwise known as the hunter account."

"I'm sorry?" she said, surprised. "What does—huh?"

"Have you taken down a Cloud missing nin lately, Haruno-san?"

Not that she knew—wait.

_Oh._

"Thank you, then. I know what it is now."

And she picked her paper up, leaving the woman staring at her.

Cloud missing nin. Three S-rank salaries.

Jin, her uncle, and apparently another missing nin in the house. Cloud really had not cared how Jin and her uncle were out of their hair as long as they weren't her problem. Whether it was through them bribing someone in the village or just being taken out.

Cloud had paid her for taking them off their hands. Unbelievable.

It was, all at once, a relief and a headache. One the one hand it wasn't some crazy Kazedama scheme, but money from Cloud was poison. The council would be after her headband if they found out she had it.

She stuck the paper in her pocket and headed towards the tower. If Naruto or Tsunade couldn't take care of it, then she would just file a report on it and give the money to the council. It would be over and she wouldn't have to worry about it anymore.

_I'm not yours anymore. I won't let you hang over me any longer._

As she walked toward the tower, the sun shining brightly, she let go of all thoughts of her uncle and the havoc he had wreaked in her life. It was time to forget him.

* * *

A/N: And that's it. No more of this universe. And I don't know if ninja use banks, but the idea stuck and wouldn't let go. They have to cash those paychecks somehow, right?


End file.
